REGIONAL #193:  On this draw I was beginning to wonder about the randomness of my homemade team selector program, as it seemed to be stuck in the American League of the 1980s.  None of these entries looked like world-beaters; there were two representatives from the Angels, suggesting that Chuck Finley might get yet another outing in the tournament, and there were also two White Sox teams that apparently decided that it was safe to come out of storage with a mediocre Sox team having beat the tournament jinx to win the bracket before last.  Even though I felt that both Sox teams were probably “okay” and perfectly capable of hanging with any other squad here, I doubted that the jinx was over and so I decided to pick an Angelic final with the ‘96 Halos besting the ‘85 version.    The ELO rankings indicated that those ‘85 Angels were the only decent team amidst a pile of mediocrities, suggesting that they should have no problem with the Indians in the finals.  

First round action

The 1989 White Sox had various pieces of teams that had been good six years previously and would be good six years later, but this version lost 92 games with a punchless lineup led by Ivan Calderon’s 14 homers, and Eric King (9-10, 3.39) heading a rotation that got steadily worse after him.  For all their limitations, there were still three teams with worse ELO rankings than them, with the worst of them being their first round opponents, the 2021 Royals.  Why they were ranked worse wasn’t really clear to me, as they lost only 88 games and were all-”1”s up the middle with 48 homers from catcher Salvador Perez, although their rotation was largely terrible with Kris Bubic (6-7, 4.43) being the best option.  Sure enough, Perez puts one in the fountains in the bottom of the 1st and the Royals quickly lead 2-0.  A bases loaded single by Nicky Lopez in the 4th and a sac fly from Jorge Soler and KC’s lead extends to 5-0, and a leadoff KC hit in the 6th chases King for Bobby Thigpen, who retires the side without incident.  However, Andrew Benintendi finds Thigpen’s solid HR result to lead off the 7th, and Hunter Dozier adds an RBI double in the 8th for extra insurance.  The Sox don’t put two hits together in an inning until the 9th, but even that isn’t enough to break the ice as Bubic closes out a 4-hit shutout and the Royals cruise to the semifinals with a 6-0 win.  

The 1996 Angels lost 91 games but they didn’t look that bad, having a strong outfield of Garrett Anderson, Jim Edmonds and Tim Salmon, and fairly decent fielding.  However, their rotation was dreadful after Chuck Finley (15-16, 4.16), who would be getting his 11th start in this tournament having gone 5-5 in those previous outings.   According to the ELO ranks the Angels were pretty evenly matched against the 1989 Indians, who lost 89 games in a different way, with little offense other than Joe Carter but sporting a solid rotation fronted by Tom Candiotti (13-10, 3.10).  The Indians get on the board first when a walk and an error by Angels 2B-3 Randy Velarde sets up an RBI double from Carter, and things get worse for the Angels in the 6th when DH Chili Davis is knocked out with an injury.  Cory Snyder adds a solo homer off Finley’s card to the Indians’ lead in the bottom of the 6th, and Candiotti’s knuckler has the Angels baffled until the 9th, when replacement DH Rex Hudler leads off with a triple and then scores on an Edmonds single that puts the tying run aboard.  Candiotti retires Salmon, but then Garret Anderson knocks a double that puts the tying and go-ahead runs into scoring position, and the Indians bring in both the infield and Jesse Orosoco trying to preserve the win.  Orosco whiffs JT Snow for a big second out, and then the dangerous Jack Howell pinch hits with the game on the line.  The roll is in Howell’s prime one column, but it’s a 1-12, and that’s another strikeout as Orosco saves the game in epic fashion to send the Indians on to the semifinals as they take the 2-1 squeaker.  As has happened several times in this project, Finley pitches well for the Angels, tossing a four-hitter, but he gets little run support as he records his sixth tournament loss.  

With a slightly more recent version of the team already eliminated in this bracket, the 1986 White Sox weren’t optimistic about their chances, with this batch having lost 90 games to get Tony Larussa fired midseason in his first stint as Sox manager.  With Harold Baines as their top offensive weapon and swingman Neil Allen (7-2, 3.82) getting the start, they were underdogs to the regional favorite 1985 Angels, who had won 90 games but who had also seen another version eliminated in the prior game.  However, this version had a couple of Hall of Famers in Reggie! and Rod Carew, and Mike Witt (15-9, 3.56) was entering his prime which collectively earned this team the only spot in the top 1000 teams in this regional.  The Angels waste no time getting a run in the bottom of the 1st when leadoff hitter Gary Pettis walks, steals, and scores on a Brian Downing single.  In the 6th, Downing walks and then with two out Reggie gets only the second hit of the game for the Angels, missing a HR 1-17 split but scoring Downing on the resulting double to provide some insurance for Witt.  Ron Hassey hits a solo HR for the Sox in the 7th, their first run in 16 innings in this regional, but Dick Schofield converts a HR 1-8 located at 2-11 on his card for a two run shot that gets that run back and more.   Witt coasts for the rest of the game to finish out a 5-hitter and setting the Sox quietly down in the 9th, including a pinch hitter who is actually still getting paid as of this writing.  Thus, the Angels move to the semifinals with the 4-1 win and more 80s Sox teams join their 1983 brethren in storage following first round failures.

For the Zoom game of the week, it was Seattle-area resident StratFan Rick manning the helm of the 1986 Mariners, who lost 95 games to end up as the #7 seed in this batch, but with the solid Matt Young (8-6, 3.82) getting the start even though he was essentially the team’s closer.  Having no dog in this fight, I managed the #2 seeded 83-79 1990 Rangers, who had one of the better rotations in their history, and I figured you couldn’t go wrong with Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan (13-9, 3.44) on the mound.  And as has been typical of the entire tournament, I was sadly mistaken, as two walks and a Jim Presley homer off Ryan’s card puts the Mariners up 3-0 in the top of the 1st.  Ryan then seems to find his stuff, at least until the 5th, when Phil Bradley also finds and converts Ryan’s homer result for a 2-run shot, and then Presley has left the building once again later in the inning for another two run blast and it’s time to derail the Von Ryan Express after 4+ innings in which he only allows three hits–all of them crooked number homers.  The Rangers try Brad Arnsberg in relief, but Rick claims to know Arnsberg’s uncle and it shows, as in Brad’s two-thirds of an inning he allows two hits on his card, both doubles off missed HR splits.  Sensing that wasn’t the solution, I opt for Scott Chiamparino who doesn’t have a home run result on his card.  No luck there, either, as he did have two double results on his card and they kept getting Rickrolled, and the crooked numbers kept going and going.  In the 7th, Gary Pettis manages a sac fly to make Texas the Lone Run Team, but by the time the game mercifully ends the scoreboard reads Mariners 17, Rangers 1.  Seattle gets 15 hits, nine of which were doubles, and never mind about Elvis as Presley does his best Babe impersonation with two homers and 6 RBI in the slaughter.

The survivors

The first semifinal paired an 88-loss 2021 Royals team against an 89-loss 1989 Indians team; the Indians had the better rotation and Greg Swindell (13-6, 3.37) was a far better option than KC’s Mike Minor (8-12, 5.05), who was hoping to keep the ball in the park so that the Royals defense that had been outstanding in the first round could take care of business.  The Royals put together a 2-out rally in the 2nd when Hunter Dozier singles past Cleveland 3b-3 Brook Jacoby and then Jorge Soler rolls a solid double on Swindell’s card and Dozier races home for a 1-0 KC lead.  In the 3rd, Royals LF Andrew Benintendi is lost for the regional with an injury, but they repeat their previous success as Salvadore Perez hits the same double on Swindell and this time it’s Nicky Lopez racing home from first to add to the lead.  The Indians get on the board when Dion James leads off the bottom of the 4th by finding Minor’s complete home run result, and they tie it in the 5th when a single by Jerry Browne scores Linda Ronstadt, er, Felix Fermin.  The Royals decide to go with Josh Staumont in the 7th, fearing Minor’s gopher ball issues, and he does his job so the game enters the 9th knotted at two apiece.  With one out in the top of the 9th, Whit Merrifield gets the first hit off Swindell since the 5th, and he promptly steals second, so the Indians move to the savior of game one, Jesse Orosco, who retires two straight once again and we move to the bottom of the 9th.  The Royals bring out closer Scott Barlow, who blows through the weak bottom of the Cleveland lineup and the game heads to extra innings.  The Indians don’t trust Orosco’s solid HR for extra frames, so they bring out Doug Jones, who escapes a Perez HR 1/flyB split to survive the 10th, and survives a Dozer HR 1-3/flyB split to end the 11th.  The teams trade goose eggs; in the 13th, both relievers are in their final inning of eligibility for the regional, and Jones survives his half but Barlow allows a leadoff double to James off the pitcher’s card in the bottom of the inning.  Barlow then whiffs Jacoby and Joe Carter grounds out to advance the winning run to 3rd, with Pete O’Brien at the plate.  Barlow delivers, 4-7, single on Barlow’s card and the crowd at old Municipal Stadium begin the demolition a few years early as the Indians head to the finals with the walk-off marathon 3-2 win.

The regional favorite 1985 Angels were somewhat nervous after watching their semifinal opponents, the 1986 Mariners, unleash one of the worst beatdowns in tournament history in their first round game.  However, the M’s did most of that damage off the pitcher’s card and they would no longer have the benefit of Rickrolling, which unerringly found the bad results on the opposing pitcher.  Both starting pitchers would offer a number of bad results to their opposition, as neither Angel Ron Romanick (14-9, 4.11) nor the M’s Mark Langston (12-14, 4.85) inspired much confidence.   The Angels take the lead in the top of the 2nd when Bobby Grich converts a TR 1-2 and scores on a Bob Boone single, and then Boone comes home on back-to-back errors by the Seattle battery of Langston and C-4 Scott Bradley.   The Mariners get one of those back in the bottom of the 3rd courtesy of doubles by Rey Quinones and Alvin Davis, but the Angels respond immediately by loading the bases in the top of the 4th and getting two more on a walk and a Gary Pettis squib single.  Jim Presley leads off the bottom of the inning with his third homer of the regional, and then Phil Bradley ties the game with a 2-out, 2-run double and John Moses then singles him in to give the Mariners their first lead.  Romanick then issues two straight walks to load the bases for Presley, getting his second AB of the inning, and he hits a deep fly to right but Reggie Jackson hauls it in to end the inning.  A Gary Pettis single in the 6th ties the game once again, and the Angels then decide to move to their bullpen for Pat Clements, who promptly walks the bases loaded but avoids any damage, including a roll that would have been a HR result on Romanick.  A leadoff walk to Brian Downing in the 7th has the Mariners looking in their bullpen, but with Matt Young getting the start in the first round it doesn’t look appetizing and they stick with Langston who rewards their trust by getting out of the inning.  However, when the Angels begin the 8th with yet another walk and a single past RF-4 Danny Tartabull, the Mariners bring in the infield and also reliever Mike Trujillo, and he gives up an RBI single to the pesky Pettis to push the Angels into the lead.  They then turn the game over to closer Donnie Moore, but as was unfortunately the case for Moore in real life, things didn’t go well.  A walk to Alvin Davis, who advances to 2nd on a grounder, and scores on a 2-out single from Presley ties the game; a distracted Moore then grooves one to Tartabull, who puts it into the far reaches of the Kingdome, and then supersub Dave Valle goes back to back and Moore is gone.  Trujillo then manages the 9th despite some sloppy fielding by Harold Reynolds, and the Mariners Magic persists as they come from behind twice to take the 9-6 win to head to the finals.

These finals prove that every dog can have its day in this tournament as the 89-loss 1989 Indians and the 95-loss 1986 Mariners attempt to win a regional, a feat that eluded many of the teams touted as the greatest of all time.  Of course, when bad teams get this far in a bracket, the starting pitching usually begins to smell funny, with the Mariners sending out Mike Moore (11-13, 4.30) while the Indians were hoping that John Farrell (9-14, 3.63) could go the distance because after their marathon semifinal win they didn’t have much left in the bullpen other than Ricky Vaughn.  However, the game turns into a pitching duel, with Moore getting out of jams and Farrell dominating the M’s offense.  In the 5th, Moore walks a couple and then Cleveland #9 hitter Andy Allenson delivers a clutch single that scores one, but 1-15 Brad Komminsk is nailed trying to get to third to prevent additional damage.  Harold Reynolds gets the first Mariners hit in the bottom of the 6th, a single that CF-2 Komminsk couldn’t reach, and then a single by Rey Quinones and a walk to Alvin Davis loads the bases but Farrell bears down and keeps the Mariners off the board.  He continues to do so until the bottom of the 9th, when Ken Phelps draws a leadoff walk and the persistent Jim Presley singles him to 3rd on a missed triple split.  The tying run is now 90 feet away with nobody out, and for the third consecutive game of the bracket the Indians summon Jesse Orosco to try to get them out of a jam.  The infield comes in, Orosco walks Tartabull to load them up, and up to the plate steps supersub Dave Valle.  But Orosco strikes out Valle for out number one, and strikes out Reynolds for out number two, so up comes #9 hitter Rey Quinones and his .218 average.  The Mariners bench now consists of five sub-.200 hitters and third-string catcher Bob Kearney, hitting .240, so Seattle tries him as a PH and the noise in the Kingdome is deafening.  Orosco gets the sign from Allenson, delivers–and Kearney strikes out swinging, so the Indians hang on for the 1-0 win and the regional title.  The regional MVP has to go to Orosco, who played a critical role in all of the Indians’ three victories, all of which were one-run games; he allowed no hits and no inherited runners to score in 2.3 innings pitched while earning two saves and striking out the side in the bottom of the 9th of the final.    

Interesting card of Regional #193:  Strat cards printed on black, red, or blue cardstock don’t really do much for me; just give me a low-AB wonder on die-cut stock with a classic hit pattern and I’ll be happy.  Still trying to become a full-time player at age 25, this season seemed to convince Mariners management to give Dave Valle a shot as a regular, and he reeled off a number of years that were decent, finishing in double digit homers three times but never quite living up to this card.  Even so, he did manage to lead the league in one category in 1993:  getting hit by pitch.  In this tournament, he did rack up a pinch hit homer in the semifinal game to help get his underdog Mariners to the regional final, but in the bottom of the 9th of that final with the tying run at third, mighty Valle did strike out, meaning the end of the line for him and his team in this project.

REGIONAL #192:  After a number of brackets populated by some real clunkers, the draw for this regional looked quite competitive.   There was not just one, but two pennant winners, the Harvey Wallbanger Brew Crew and the newly arrived Diamond Gems 1933 Senators.  There were also two Astros teams that each would have some big names on them, an Indians team that would be dominant later in the decade, a Padres team from the immediate past season that I remembered as having been highly touted but ultimately falling short, and then a couple of wild card entries from the Rangers and Braves that I suspected were probably mediocre.  The obvious choice looked like a faceoff of the two pennant winners, but with the Brew Crew being a particular favorite of mine I figured that would probably jinx them, so I guessed that the ‘91 version of the Astros would get to the finals but fall to the ‘33 Senators, who were largely unfamiliar to me.  The ELO ranks went with the obvious, and indicated that those Senators were the favorite as one of the top 75 teams of all time.

First round action

The 1984 Braves looked a little better than I guessed they might, although they only went 80-82 with Dale Murphy dropping to 9th place in the MVP balloting after having won the award the previous two seasons in a row.  On the mound, they would go with Len Barker (7-8, 3.85) as Pascual Perez was having trouble finding the stadium.   On the other hand, the 1991 Indians didn’t look like a team that would win a pennant a few years down the road, as they managed to lose 105 games with an offense that consisted of Albert Belle, a porous defense, and a pitching staff fronted by Greg Swindell (9-16, 3.48), who probably deserved better.  The Braves stage a two out rally in the top of the 3rd, loading the bases for a 2-run single from Bob Horner, but the Indians even it up in the 4th on doubles from Carloses Baerga and Martinez, and a run scoring single by Felix Fermin.   However, things fall apart for Swindell in the 6th, as (assisted by bad defense) the Braves knock five singles that knock Swindell out for Steve Olin, who promptly yields an RBI single to Murphy although 1-14 Gerald Perry is nailed at the plate and the inning ends with the Braves leading 7-2.  Glenn Hubbard adds a sac fly in the 7th for his second RBI of the game, and in the bottom of the 9th he turns a game-ending double play as the Braves cruise to the semifinals with the 8-2 win.  

The 1982 Brewers were a longtime favorite of mine, winning 95 games and the AL pennant and losing a heartbreaking Game 7 to the Cardinals in the Series.  This was a fun team to watch and to play, with Robin Yount winning the MVP award and five other Brew Crewmembers receiving votes, and Pete Vuckovich (18-6, 3.34) capturing the Cy Young award.   Because my favorite teams tend to make rapid exits in this tournament, I had predicted they would lose to the 1991 Astros, who were worse than I anticipated having lost 97 games; they weren’t capable of generating any power in the Astrodome, although Pete Harnisch (12-9, 2.70) seemed to benefit from the park.  In the top of the 1st, Astros leadoff hitter Steve Finley rips a double past 3B-4 Paul Molitor, but Vuckovich strands him and Molitor atones in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff triple and he scores on a Cecil Cooper sac fly to make it 1-0 Brewers.  However, Vuckovich is torched for five straight hits to begin the 2nd and when the dust settles the Astros have put up four runs; then, three straight hits to start the 3rd and it’s obvious that Vuckovich has nothing, so he exits after allowing 9 hits in 2 innings and closer Rollie Fingers is called in desperation.  His first pitch results in a 2-base error by Molitor and the jinx pushes the Brewers to a 6-1 deficit.   More problems crop up in the 4th with a two-out error by 1B-1 Cooper followed by a converted TR 1-3 from Karl Rhodes and a Steve Finley RBI single and the Brewers fans can only look on in stunned silence.  Fingers is burnt after six, so veteran Don Sutton comes in and promptly allows a homer off his card to the first batter of the 7th, Luis Gonzalez, and Harnisch finishes out a 5-hitter as the Astros blow out the pennant winner in a 10-1 win, recording 18 hits off hapless Brewer pitching.

The 2022 Padres were the #3 seed in this group, winning 89 games and getting all the way to the NLCS as as wild card before getting knocked out; for runs they had Juan Soto and Manny Machado, and they had a solid pitching staff with Yu Darvish (16-8, 3.10) getting some Cy Young votes.  They faced the #4 seeded 1983 Astros, the second Astrodome team in this group that had limited power but a solid pitching staff with the wild but scary Nolan Ryan (14-9, 2.98) getting the nod for the round one start.  The Padres were only the second 2022 (most recent season at the time) team to play in the tournament, and in setting their lineup I did notice that they appeared to have heavier cardstock than had been typical recently, although still not quite as sturdy as their opponents that had been printed in 1984.  At any rate, in the top of the 1st a double by professional hitter Jose Cruz drives one in, but a highlight reel catch by professional fielder CF-1 Trent Grisham (split roll of 9, extra bases on all other fielders) prevents more runs from scoring.  Houston gets another run in the 2nd on a 2-out Jerry Mumphrey single, but in the 3rd a couple of Ryan walks set up a 2-out Brandon Drury RBI single that makes it a one run game.  In the 4th, Jurickson Profar adds a 2-run double and the Padres take the lead; Omar Moreno triples in the top of the 6th but Darvish strands him at third to keep San Diego in front.  When the Padres get runners on first and third with nobody out, the Von Ryan Express takes the next exit out, and Frank Dipino comes in to try to keep Houston in the game.  But Austin Nola doubles past LF-2 Cruz, and although Dipino prevents further damage the Padres lead by two.  The Astros cut it back to one in the 8th when Alan Ashby converts Darvish’s HR split for a solo shot, and the Padres elect to bring in Robert Suarez who has less of a problem with the longball; he gets into some trouble but is bailed out by a great play from 3B-1 Manny Machado.   Suarez is perfect in the 9th, and he saves the 4-3 win and a berth in the semifinals for the Padres.

The 1933 Senators had only recently arrived as a special “drop” of 1930s Diamond Gems (printed on the typical very thin cardstock, unlike the 2022 season), and it was a team about whom I know almost nothing, although I did have their Series opponents as part of the Old Timer series and I knew the ‘34 Nats had reached the finals of their group.  The ELO rankings had them in the top 75 teams of all time, but after setting the lineup I wasn’t so sure, although they did win 99 games and the AL.  However, they had little power as they played in cavernous Griffith Stadium, and their leading HR hitter, Joe Kuhel, only managed 11 HR.  Nonetheless, their lineup could hit for average and they had two 20 game winners with Earl Whitehill (2208, 3.33) getting the start.  Their opponents couldn’t be much more different, as the 91-loss 2003 Rangers had plenty of steroid-era power, with AL MVP Alex Rodriquez hitting as many homers as the entire Senators lineup, and Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Palmiero and Hank Blaylock adding plenty more.  However, there was only one eligible starter in the rotation, John Thompson (13-14, 4.85) with an ERA under five, and Washington player/manager Joe Cronin leads off the top of the 1st with a double against him and scores on a Heinie Manush single for a quick 1-0 lead.  However, the Rangers mount a 2-out rally in the bottom of the 3rd with three squib singles that load up the bases for Juan Gone, and he misses a split for the grand slam but clears the bases with the resulting double and the Rangers move ahead 3-1.  Meanwhile, Thomson throws five straight hitless innings, but the Nats lead off the 7th with a walk and a single and the Rangers waste no time in going to closer Francisco Cordero to head off a rally, who blows through three in a row including a strikeout of .410-average pinch hitter Cliff Bolton.  However, in the 8th Cronin again leads off an inning with a double and again Manush comes through with 2-out, missing a HR 1/TR split to drive in Cronin, but Goose Goslin leaves the tying run stranded at third.  The Rangers get a tough break in the bottom of the 8th as 2B-1 Michael Young has to leave the game with an injury, but they still cling to a one-run lead entering the 9th and they bring in reliever Ron Mahay in an effort to preserve Cordero for future use.  He whiffs Dave Harris, but then consecutive singles by Fred Schulte and Bolton put the tying run 90 feet away with one out.  Although conflicted with the slow Bolton on 1st, the Rangers bring the infield in for Ozzie Bluege, who pops out and it’s now up to Cronin, who’s already got two doubles on the day.  Cronin connects, it’s a deep fly to RF-3 Juan Gone, and the lead is Gone as Juan muffs it for a 2-base error.  Bolton is now the go-ahead run on 3rd, and Buddy Myer strokes a single that scores both him and the fleet Cronin; Joe Kuhel follows with a double and Myer races in and the ballpark at Arlington now more resembles the Arlington National Cemetery.   Whitehill sets the Rangers down quietly in the bottom of the 9th and the bracket favorites move on with a come-from-behind 6-3 win, recording half of their 10 hits in the 9th inning.  

The survivors

After crushing a pennant winner in round one, the 1991 Astros were hoping for another upset in the semifinal against the somewhat less formidable 1984 Braves.   With Pascual Perez still trying to find the stadium, the start for the Braves would go to Rick Mahler (13-10, 3.12), while the Astros tapped Darryl Kile (7-11, 3.69), with both pens at full strength.  The Braves go up 1-0 in the top of the 1st with a Claudell Washington double setting up a 2-out RBI single from Bob Horner, with all of the action coming off Kile’s 4 column.  Washington gets another double in the 3rd, this time off his own card, to drive in a run, and then a walk to Dale Murphy brings up Horner with the bases loaded; he misses a HR split for a grand slam but clears the bases with the resulting double and that’s it for Kile, out after only two innings pitched.  The Astros look for a long reliever and select 24 year old prospect Curt Schilling, who allows another four hits while also recording three strikeouts, but it’s now 8-0 Braves.  However, these Astros had put up double digits on a pennant winner and they weren’t done yet; they get RBI singles from Ken Caminiti and Jose Tolentino in the 4th and ultimately load the bases for Steve Finley, who misses a HR split for the grand slam but instead records a triple to knock in another three and the Braves lead is cut to 8-5 after four.  Al Osuna takes over for Schilling in the 6th, and holds off Atlanta while the Astros get a leadoff single and a walk to begin the bottom of the inning, and with the tying run now at the plate the Braves make a move to the pen for Gene Garber.  But his first pitch is hit deep to CF-1 Murphy, who inexplicably muffs it for a 2-base error and the tying run is now on second with nobody out.  The .213 hitting Karl Rhodes is at the plate, and the Astros check their bench for a pinch hitter and discover that they actually have nine guys on the bench with lower batting averages than Rhodes, so they let him swing away and it’s a HR 1-11/DO result on Garber.  He misses the split, but the game is tied, there is still nobody out, and the top of the order is up.  Garber then yields a single to Finley and walks Biggio to bring up Jeff Bagwell with the bases jammed, and it’s another 4-10 on Garber, HR 1-11 and for the third time in the game, the split is missed for the grand slam but three runs score on the double.  That’s all the Braves can take of Garber, who fails to record an out while allowing two inherited runners and four of his own to score, and Steve Bedrosian comes in to try his hand.  Bedrock issues a walk but then strikes out the side, and after six it’s now Houston 11, Atlanta 8.   The Astros aren’t done yet, as two two-out walks in the 7th lead to a 2-run double from Bagwell to add to his RBI count, and armed with the now five run lead the Astros preserve Osuna and leave the game to Jim Corsi.  He does the job, closing out a remarkable comeback from an eight run deficit as the Astros head to the finals with the 13-8 victory.  

The marquee game of the regional looked to be the semifinal between the #1 seed 1933 Senators and the #3 seed 2022 Padres, although both teams were fortunate to have escaped their first round game.  The Senators had the luxury of turning to their second 20-game winner, General Crowder (24-15, 3.97) while San Diego went with Joe Musgrove (10-7, 2.93) for a solid pitching matchup.  And a duel does develop, with the game staying a scoreless tie until the bottom of the 6th, when the Nats begin the inning with three straight singles from the top of the order that bring in one, and then a Heinie Manush sac fly brings in another and a hard single from Goose Goslin signals the end of the line for Musgrove, with Robert Suarez coming in to try to replicate his artistry from the first round.  He prevents further damage but it’s now 2-0 Senators after six.  Suarez is done for the regional by the 8th, and Nabil Crismatt comes in to yield an RBI double to Manush followed by a pinch hit triple from supersub Cliff Bolton, and he scores on a Goose Goslin sac fly and the Washington lead is now five.  That’s more than Crowder needs, as he finishes up a three-hit shutout and the Senators win 5-0 and head to the finals as big favorites.  

It looked like a lopsided final with the #1 seeded 1933 Senators pennant winners matched against the #7 seed, 97-loss 1991 Astros, but it was the Astros who had been blowing out the opposition in the first two rounds, having already demolished one pennant winner and averaging eleven-plus runs per game to reach the finals.  However, Houston was now heading into the depths of their rotation and Mark Portugal (10-12, 4.49) would get the start against the Nats’ Lefty Stewart (15-6, 3.82), with both pitchers among the worst on their teams in keeping the ball within their homer-unfriendly parks.  In the top of the 2nd, Eric Yelding hits a liner that RF-4 Goose Goslin chases into the corner for an RBI triple, but in the bottom of the inning Goslin singles and then Fred Schulte laces a hit to center that CF-2 Steve Finley misplays, and the Senators have runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out.  The Astros opt to bring the infield in to cut off a game-tying grounder, but Luke Sewell nails the gbA++ and both runners score on the resulting single.  A flustered Portugal then grooves one to Joe Cronin, who drives it into the gap for a double that scores Sewell and the Astros are now down 3-1.   The Senators then load the bases with two out in the 5th for Goslin, who misses a SI 1-18 split and the Astros, who came back from an 8-0 deficit in the previous game, sense their chance but Stewart continues to frustrate their offense.  In the bottom of the 7th the top of Washington’s order begins the inning with a single and a walk, and Portugal is beached for Al Osuna, the winning pitcher from their semifinal game.  However, a walk to Joe Kuhel loads the bases; Osuno retires Manush to face supersub Cliff Bolton, who rips a grounder past 2b-3 Casey Candaele for an RBI single, and Goslin drives in another on a fielder’s choice and the Senators hold a four run lead entering the 8th.  In the top of the 8th Craig Biggio finds and converts Stewart’s HR split for a two out solo shot that narrows the gap, but Stewart sets the Astros down in order in the 9th and the Senators live up to their lofty ELO rating by capturing the regional with the 5-2 win–the first “Diamond Gem”-only release by Strat to have done so.  

Interesting card(s) of Regional #192:  This features a tale of two shortstops–it was the best of times as both of these shortstops won the AL MVP with these cards, but it was the worst of times as neither did much of anything in this tournament and as a result both of their teams were eliminated immediately in the first round.  Nonetheless, in a league drafting from every Strat card ever printed, I’m guessing that both of these guys would go fairly early.  Yount won the MVP award, leading his team to the pennant and becoming the first shortstop in American League history to lead the league in slugging percentage and total bases.  ARod was the next SS to lead the AL in SLG%, which he did as he won his first MVP award in 2003 while also leading the league in homers for the third straight year–on a Rangers team that had losing records all three years.  However, several years later a Sports Illustrated story revealed that Rodriquez had tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid during the 2003 season; the steroid use apparently continued and he was eventually suspended for the entire 2014 season.  Yount was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1999; Rodriguez has appeared on the ballot for two votes, each time totalling about 35%.  Like his contemporaries from the steroid era, it remains to be seen whether he will ever garner the required votes; for what it’s worth, the JAWS metric for evaluating HOF candidates measures ARod as the second greatest shortstop of all time, after Honus Wagner.

REGIONAL #191:   This was another batch of teams that didn’t look to me like they would be within shouting distance of greatness.   There was a Reds team from the 60s that was four seasons after their ‘61 pennant and five years before their ‘70 win, while there was also a Padres squad that was five seasons past a Series appearance.   Other than that, there were a couple of Tigers teams from the 90s that apparently didn’t make much of an impression on me, a steroid era Orioles team that I suspected would be fairly bad, and a first year expansion team in the ‘98 Rays that I was almost certain would be terrible.  My sentimental favorite, which should be evident to followers of this project, would be the ‘73 White Sox, who in the preceding year had amazed everyone by making a run for the pennant with MVP Dick Allen leading the way.  I seemed to remember that this team was not quite as good, and given my consistent ability to jinx the Sox I was pretty confident that they weren’t going anywhere.  I decided to go with the oldest team in the group, the pre-machine Reds, guessing that they would defeat the ‘96 version of the Tigers in the finals.   The ELO ranks also picked the Reds, but had a Twins team that I had paid little attention to as their likely opponent in the finals, while indicating that I banked on the wrong Tigers team.

First round action

The 2003 Padres lost 98 games but the ELO rankings indicated that there were two other teams in this bracket that were even worse, and they didn’t look that terrible, with some offense led by Brian Giles and Mark Loretta and a workable but shallow rotation fronted by Adam Eaton (9-12, 4.08).  They would be facing the better of the two Detroit teams in this regional, the 1993 Tigers, who went 85-77 with 30+ homers from Cecil Fielder and Mickey Tettleton, but their starters beyond David Wells (11-9, 4.19) looked worse than those of the Padres.  Loretta starts things off when he finds Wells’ solid HR result for a solo shot in the 3rd, and Loretta follows that up with a 3-run blast off his own card in the 5th and it’s Loretta 4, Tigers 0.  The Padres get two on in the 7th on a walk and an error from 2B-3 Lou Whitaker, and the Tigers move to closer Mike Henneman, who is fortunate to get out of the inning as 1-14 Khalil Greene makes the third out at the plate trying to score on a Loretta single.  Meanwhile, the Padres bring in some defense to support Eaton, who is throwing a no-hitter, and in the 7th he’s bailed out by strong managerial strategy as I decide not to hold B-stealer Alan Trammell; the Tigers don’t steal with Tettleton up and Mickey hits into the gbA++ DP to end the 7th with Detroit still hitless.  However, Chad Kreuter breaks up the bid with a leadoff single in the 8th, but in the top of the 9th Giles converts Henneman’s HR 1-2/flyB for a two-run homer and additional insurance for Eaton, who loses his shutout with two out in the bottom of the 9th when Travis Fryman doubles past LF-3 Giles.  But Eaton closes out the 4-hitter and the Padres move on with the comfortable 6-1 win.

This first round game matched the bracket’s top seed, the 1965 Reds, against the first year expansion team the 1998 Rays (actually still Deviled at the time), who somehow avoided receiving the worst ELO rank in the regional and tapped as the #7 seed.  The 89-win Reds had a serious offense for a mid-60s team with Frank Robinson and Deron Johnson leading the charge, and there were two 20-game winners at the top of the rotation with Jim Maloney (20-9, 2.54) getting the round one start.  On the other hand, the Rays lost 99 games, although they had some recognizable names such as Wade Boggs and Fred McGriff, and Rolando Arrojo (14-12, 3.56) was a solid option for the start.  The Rays' cause isn’t helped any when Boggs is knocked out of the game with an injury in the 3rd, but that rouses the Rays bats and Dave Martinez knocks a 2-out RBI single in the 4th to put Tampa Bay up 1-0.  Meanwhile, Arrojo has allowed no hits through five, and for the second game in a row the underdog team starts loading up the defensive replacements in the 6th inning in support of a no-hit bid.  One of those replacements, Randy Winn, contributes an RBI hit in the 6th and Miguel Cairo adds a sac fly that makes it 3-0 Rays.  Tommy Harper misses a SI 1-13 split in the bottom of the inning and the bid remains alive, and with two out in the top of the 9th Bubba Trammell whacks a 2-run homer to provide additional insurance.  That leaves it to Arrojo to try to finish things out in the bottom of the 9th, and it’s three up, three down, with Arrojo striking out Harper to finish out only the second NO-HITTER of the tournament, with two walks being the only baserunners the top seeded Reds could muster.

Saving the 1973 White Sox for the Zoom game of the week, I was hopeful that maybe if I managed against a live opponent I could surmount the jinx that has bedeviled the Pale Hose for most of this tournament.  The Sox had shown signs of life the previous season, but in ‘73 they limped to a 77-85 record with ‘72 MVP Dick Allen out for half of the season with a leg fracture and Wilbur Wood (24-20, 3.46) managing to be a 20-game winner AND loser at the same time.  Still, they were ELO favorites against the 2001 Orioles, graciously managed by Roy, who lost 98 games with their biggest names being 40 year olds like Cal Ripken Jr. and Tim Raines.  The O’s rotation was particularly gruesome, with Jason Johnson (10-12, 4.09) the best of the lot.  There was immediate consternation as my 50-year old Sox team set was missing SS Eddie Leon, but I did have an extra ‘72 Eddie who was equally bad so he would have to substitute.  Wood starts out with the knuckler out of control, issuing walks and hits and fortunate to escape the top of the 1st with only a 1-0 deficit.  That doesn’t last long, as in the bottom of the 2nd Ed Herrmann finds his 2-11 home run result for a 2-run shot that gives the Sox the lead; at that point, both pitchers settle down and neither team can muster much of a threat.   Chris Richard rolls his HR 1-12/DO split but misses it and Wood strands him, but finally Brian Roberts capitalizes on a spinning knuckler and slaps an RBI single in the 7th to tie things up.  In the bottom of the 8th, Dick Allen finds a HR 1/DO at 5-3 on Johnson’s card, and after a couple of walks the bases are loaded with one out for Herrmann, who lofts a deep fly that stays in the yard at Old Comiskey but is deep enough to score Allen with the go-ahead run.  Wood then has the knuckler dancing in the 9th and finished out the complete game (of course) 3-2 win, holding the O’s to six hits while the Sox only manage four themselves, but they make them count.

I was curious to see how the 1996 Tigers managed to end up with a worse ELO ranking than a first year expansion team, and setting their lineup made it obvious, as I kept shuffling through the team trying to find somebody good.  With 109 losses, it’s not surprising that the team didn’t have much of a rotation, with Omar Olivares (7-11, 4.89) not offering much encouragement as their top starter.   They faced the top remaining seed in the bracket, the 2009 Twins, who won 89 games and the AL Central; they had some nice offensive weapons led by AL MVP Joe Mauer and his .365 average, but made a rapid exit from the postseason perhaps because of a weak rotation fronted by Scott Baker (15-9, 4.37) although Joe Nathan was a force in the pen.  The Twins strike first when Jason Kubel leads off the bottom of the 2nd with a smoked shot high off the baggie in the Metrodome, and then with two out in the inning Delmon Young pokes a solo shot that makes it 2-0 Twins.  Mauer adds a sac fly in the 3rd, and Kubel drives in another in the 5th with a fielder’s choice to make it 4-0 after five.  Meanwhile, Baker is keeping the Tigers at bay, at least until the top of the 9th, when a leadoff single is followed by a two-run homer from Tony Clark (off Baker’s solid HR result) and suddenly it’s a 2-run game with nobody out.  That’s the cue for Nathan, and he gets the job done to save the 4-2 win for the Twins, in which they only recorded five hits off Olivares.

The survivors

This semifinal paired two bad teams that pulled off first round upsets, the 98-loss 2003 Padres and the 99-loss expansion 1998 Rays.   The Padres would have Jake Peavy (12-11, 4.11) on the mound, while the Rays were unlikely to pull off a second straight no-hitter with Julio Santana (5-6, 4.39).  And Santana allows the first hit off the Rays this tournament in the 2nd, as Sean Burroughs finds and converts Santana’s home run result for a solo shot; then Xavier Nady does the exact same thing for back to back damage and it’s 2-0 Padres.   That combination strikes again in the 4th as Burroughs doubles and Nady singles him in to extend the lead, and sensing that runs are going to be hard to come by, the Rays bring in Albie Lopez to begin the 6th in an attempt to keep the game within reach.  The Rays then come to life in the bottom of the 6th, as Bobby Smith delivers a pinch-hit RBI double, he scores when RF-4 Nady misplays a Wade Boggs single, and then Bubba Trammell delivers a 2-run moon shot for a Rays lead.  The Padres summon their closer Rod Beck to try to stop the bleeding, which he does but the Rays take a one run lead into the 7th.  Tampa brings in closer Roberto Hernandez to begin the 8th, and he locks down the Padres to propel the unlikely Rays into the finals with the 4-3 victory, with Lopez picking up the win in relief.  

For their semifinal game, the 1973 White Sox were reunited with a scanned image of their shortstop Eddie Leon, with the real thing on the way in the mail, but as estimated he was just as bad as the ‘72 card that had sat in for him in round one.  The Sox would throw their second straight 20-game loser in Stan Bahnsen (18-21, 3.57), and they would be considerable underdogs to a good 2009 Twins team that were the highest rated seed remaining in the semifinal round.  However, the Twins would be going deeper into a bad rotation hoping to get at least five decent innings out of Carl Pavano (14-12, 5.10) before having to turn it over to their more capable bullpen.   The Sox, who only got four hits in their first round win, match that in the top of the 1st inning, with the final one being a 2-out double by Ed Herrmann and they jump out to a 3-0 lead.  They get another in the second when Ken Henderson shoots a liner past CF-2 Denard Span for an RBI double, but Jason Kubel’s two-out single in the bottom of the 3rd makes it 4-1.  Bahnsen escapes a jam in the 5th when Joe Mauer (1-12+2) makes the third out trying to score on a Michael Cuddyer single, and when Tony Muser leads off the top of the 6th missing a HR 1-2/DO split with a 3, Pavano is pulled for secret weapon (more to come on that) Kevin Slowey.   However, Jorge Orta seems to have figured out the secret and he greets Slowey with a triple, driving in Muser, although Slowey strands Orta at third to keep the Twins in the game.  Disaster strikes the Sox in the 7th, when Beltin’ Bill Melton rolls a 6-game injury to prove that the Sox jinx is never far away.  Nonetheless, Bahnsen powers past the jinx and finishes out the 5-1 win to send the Sox to the regional finals, but without their power hitting third baseman for the foreseeable future.  

Interesting card of Regional #191:  This card presented me with an interesting dilemma.  This tournament is a cards and dice Basic tournament of every team that Strat has ever PRINTED.  Yes, that last word is significant in this situation.  You see, in the 2009 season the game company screwed up and gave Mr. Kevin Slowey a Basic side of his card that was rather better than he deserved (https://www.strat-o-matic.com/announcements/2009-and-1977-baseball-corrections/).  However, the company declined to print a corrected version of Slowey’s card, instead posting an image that customers could download and print themselves.  That image looks a great deal like the homebrew cards that I make, and so I had to decide:  which card to use, the homebrew download or the actual printed card?  Well, it’s my tournament and this is all about the teams Strat PRINTED, so dammit, I’m using the card they printed.  If they had cared enough to print a correction, I would have used it instead, but no–Slowey got his God Card moment in the sun.  In the tournament, he was not eligible to start but he did pitch four shutout innings in relief, although it wasn’t enough to keep his team from getting bounced in the semifinals.  Unfortunately for Slowey, his actual career wasn’t as good as this card was, although he did lead the AL in shutouts in 2008 (with 2!), and he retired in 2014 with a career ERA of 4.62.

REGIONAL #190:  There wasn’t a single team in this draw that stood out to me.  Any squads that had won pennants had done so several years previously, and so I had a feeling that most of these franchises were in serious phases of decline.  Probably the most recent was a Giants team three seasons after the Earthquake Series, and having little other insights I went ahead and picked them in the finals over a Phillies team that I thought was perhaps building towards being pretty good, as their teams from the 2000s have been practically unstoppable in this tournament.  The ELO rankings indicated that my picks were laughably bad, involving the two worst teams in the bracket, and instead pointed to a pretty strong Angels team besting the Braves for the crown.  However, given the frequency of upsets in this tournament, I still felt pretty good about my chances.

First round action      

The 1997 Phillies lost 94 games and their main redeeming feature was that Curt Schilling (17-11, 2.97) finished 4th in the Cy Young balloting while trying to figure out a way out of town.  They were underdogs against the 2006 Mariners, a 78-84 team that had weapons in the lineup like Ichiro, Richie Sexson, Raul Ibanez, and Adrian Beltre but had nothing in the rotation, with Gil Meche (11-8, 4.48) the best of that mess.  Things start out painfully in the top of the 1st for the Seattle defense as Meche drops a grounder from the leadoff hitter Morandini, and then a single gets past CF-2 Willie Bloomquist that sets up a sac fly by Mike Lieberthal and a 1-0 Phils lead.  They get more in the 3rd, with a two-out double from their no-name RF (Tony Barron) extending the lead to 3-0.   In the 7th the Phils get a runner in scoring position and the M’s move to closer JJ Putz, and he eradicates the threat, while the Phillies bring in replacements to shore up their horrific outfield defense.  Seattle does get a run in the bottom of the 8th on a sac fly from PH Mike Morse, but the Phils get insurance from their nameless one Barron, who hits a two out bases-loaded single that scores two.  That leaves it in Schilling’s hands, and he closes out the 5-1 win to send the Phillies to the semifinals, but dreading what may come next in the rotation.

The 2005 Angels were the top ranked ELO team in the group; unbelievably, I had forgotten that it was the 95-win AL West winning Angels that the White Sox defeated in the ALCS to give the Sox their first pennant that I was old enough to remember.  They had Vlad Guerrero finishing 3rd in the MVP voting, and portly Bartolo Colon (21-8, 3.48) winning the Cy Young, making them considerable favorites over the #6 seeded 1992 Mets.  The Mets lost 90 games while overpaying Bobby Bonilla and a bunch of elder statesmen, but they did have David Cone (13-7, 2.88), at least until they traded him to Toronto in midseason.  An RBI single from Kevin Bass in the top of the 2nd begins the scoring, putting the Mets up, and then in the 4th Colon makes a series of mistakes.  First, he commits a 2-base error on a Bonilla grounder, then he walks Eddie Murray, and finally he grooves one to Bass for a 3-run shot and now it’s Mets 4, Angels 0.  The Angels then get their first hit of the game in the bottom of the 4th, but it’s a triple from Adam Kennedy and he trots home on a Guerrero double that makes it 4-1.  When Colon walks the first batter in the 6th, the Angels don’t mess around and they bring in their 45-save closer Francisco Rodriguez, who quickly dispatches the Mets.  However, in the 7th FRod gets a little wild, and Dave Magadan delivers a 2-out squib RBI single that adds some padding to Cone’s lead.   But in the bottom of the 8th it’s Cone’s turn to get wild, and he walks the bases loaded with two out so the Mets turn to their closer, John Franco.  He delivers to Benjie Molina, it’s a 3-5, HR 1-8, and Molina rolls the 6 for the grand slam and suddenly the game is tied entering the 9th.  It’s FRod’s last inning of eligibility for the regional, and he appropriately walks Chico Walker to lead off the inning.  Next batter, Todd Hundley, rolls the 6-5, HR 1-13/fly B, and it’s another 6 on the split die and it’s another Mets lead.  So now, the question is whether Franco can actually close out the game in the bottom of the 9th.  He allows a triple to Darin Erstad, but then bears down and strands him and the Mets persist and wrap up the 7-5 win that sends the bracket favorite back into storage. 

After the previous first round game, the 2010 Braves were now the top remaining seed in the regional, with credentials like winning 91 games and making the postseason only to lose in the NLDS.  They had a solid rotation with Tim Hudson (17-9, 2.83) at the top, as he finished 4th in the Cy Young ballots.  I had blindly picked their opponent, the 1992 Giants, to take the bracket but after setting their lineup I noted that their offense after Will Clark was lackluster, although swingman Bill Swift (10-4, 2.08) looked like a decent counter to Hudson.  However, he Swiftly gets into trouble as the Braves leadoff batter in the top of the 1st, Jason Heyward, clears the fence for a quick Atlanta lead that could have been larger had not DH Brooks Conrad (1-13+2) been cut down at home for the third out.  From there, both pitchers rip off four straight hitless innings, but in the top of the 6th Giants 3B-2 Matt Williams throws a grounder into the dugout on what would have been out three, and Martin Prado follows with a 2-run homer to extend the Braves lead.  A walk, a converted SI 1-4, and then a three-run blast from Derrek Lee and Swift has got to go, so Jeff Brantley comes in to record the final out but the damage is done.  The Giants begin to show some fight in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases to set up a 2-RBI single from Cory Snyder and the score narrows to 6-2 Braves.  But Chipper Jones adds an RBI single in the top of the 7th and Hudson finishes out a 3-hitter as the Braves triumph, 7-2.  They will play their semifinal game without the services of injured CF Nate McLouth, which results in an upgrade both offensively and defensively at the position.

The last game of round one involved a matchup between two teams from the same season and the same league.  Of the two, the 1993 Rangers had the much better record, going 86-76 with a blistering heart of the order led by Juan Gonzalez, who led the league in homers and finished 4th in MVP balloting.   Their rotation was decent as well, with Kevin Brown (15-12, 3.59) as a worthy first round starter.  On the other hand, the 1993 Brewers dragged to a 69-93 record, relying primarily on Greg Vaughn for offense (certainly not defense), and their rotation was nothing to brag about either, with Cal Eldred (16-16, 4.01) not too bad if he could keep the ball in the park.  Brown escapes a jam in the 2nd when Bill Spiers hits into a bases-loaded double play, and in the top of the 3rd Brewers C-4 Dave Nilsson drops a two-out popup that sets up a 2-run homer by Gonzalez and a Rangers lead.  The Brewers strike back in the bottom of the 5th, as Yount hits a 2-run double and then scores on a Darryl Hamilton base hit and the Brewers edge ahead, 3-2.  However, in the 7th the Rangers put together a 2-out rally when David Hulse singles, and the AA stealer swipes second and scores on a Gary Redus hit to tie the game.  The Brewers send out Jesse Orosco to begin the 8th, not trusting Eldred’s longball propensity, and he holds serve but so does Brown and the game heads to extra innings.  In the top of the 10th Juan Gone hits his second homer of the game, a solo shot that barely clears his 1-10 split, and in his last inning of eligibility Brown sets the Brewers down in order to lock down the 4-3 win.  Brown completes the 6-hit win in which he held Milwaukee hitless for the final five innings.

The survivors

One of these two 90-loss teams was going to make it to the regional finals, with the 1992 Mets sending out a capable Sid Fernandez (14-11, 2.73) while the 1997 Phillies felt that their best shot would be with swingman Garrett Stephenson (8-6, 3.15) with all other eligible starters sporting ERAs north of five.  Fernandez loses control in the top of the 2nd and loads the bases with two out, and then Kevin Stocker converts a DO 1-9/flyB on Sid’s card, which scores two but 1-14 Kevin Jordan is nailed at the plate for the third out.  Nonetheless, the wildness continues in the 3rd as Fernandez again walks the bases loaded, this time with nobody out, and then it’s Rico Brogna’s turn to hit the double; two runs score but the Phils put up the stop sign on the third baserunner.  That works out as Midre Cummings singles with two out to score both runners and the Phils hold a commanding 6-0 lead.  A leadoff triple to begin the top of the 6th and Fernandez is finally pulled, with Bret Saberhagen getting some work, but Mickey Morandini immediately doubles on a missed HR split from Saberhagen’s card and the Mets hole gets even deeper.  They do finally break the ice in the bottom of the 6th with a 2-run homer from Daryl Boston, so when Saberhagen allows a couple of hits in the 8th the Mets move to closer John Franco who ends the inning with no damage.  Meanwhile, Stephenson is cruising until Howard Johnson pokes a solo shot with two out in the bottom of the 9th, but that’s the last gasp for the Mets as Stephenson wraps up a 5-hitter and the Phils head to the finals with a 7-3 win, and no remaining passable starting pitching to speak of.

The top remaining seeds face off in the second semifinal with the #2 seed 2010 Braves against the #3 seeded 1993 Rangers, with the winner being big favorites to capture the regional.  It would be the Braves’ Tommy Hanson (10-11, 3.33) and Texas’ Roger Pavlik (12-6, 3.41) as the matchup, but Jason Heyward gives Pavlik a case of the moody blues when he finds and converts Pavlik’s HR split for a solo shot and a quick Braves lead in the top of the 1st.  Pavlik issues two walks in the 5th to bring up Heyward again, who again rolls the same result but this time misses the split, and to make matters worse 1-15 Gregor Blanco is nailed trying to score with a 17 split.  In the bottom of the 7th, the Rangers make some noise with a single and a walk, and with two out the Braves would like to see Hanson close out the inning so they let him pitch to Gary Redus, who smacks an RBI single off Hanson’s card and puts the tying run on 3rd.  The Braves now bring in Billy Wagner to face the very dangerous Juan Gonzalez with the game on the line, and it’s strike Juan, two, three as Gonzo whiffs and the Braves cling to a one-run lead.  Wagner takes that lead into the bottom of the 9th, and gets two outs but walks two in the process; the Braves now must decide whether to pull Wagner to preserve him for the final or burn him in getting the last out.  They decide to risk it and bring in Jonny Venters, who has control issues of his own, but it pays off as he strikes out Redus and the Braves survive a 2-1 game in which they only manage 5 hits, with the ones that counted all coming off Pavlik’s 5-5 result.

The finals looked like a lopsided matchup with the #2 seeded 2010 Braves as big favorites over the #8 seed 1997 Phillies, but playing as the underdogs was not new to these Phils.  However, they did have the disadvantage of starting the rather dreadful Matt Beech (4-9, 5.07) against the Braves’ solid Kris Medlen (6-2, 3.68) which did not seem to help their odds any.  And for the third game in a row, Jason Heyward busts a solo homer in the first inning off the pitcher’s card, Chipper Jones follows that with a triple past Phils CF-4 Midre Cummings, and then Brooks Conrad doubles Chipper home and the Braves lead 2-0 after one.  To further the deja vu all over again, Heyward comes up in the 2nd with two on, hits the split HR on Beech, misses it as he had done in his second AB of the semifinal, and again a 1-15 runner, Nate McLouth, is cut down trying to score, although this time the lead runner did cross the plate and the Braves now lead 3-0.  However, these Phils are fighters and they put up two in the top of the 4th when an error by Braves 2B-2 Martin Prado opens the door, but the Braves get one back in the 5th when Alex Gonzalez misses a HR split but still records an RBI on the resulting double.  The Phils pull Beech for Mike Grace to begin the 6th, but he yields an RBI triple to CF replacement Gregor Blanco, who then scores on a Heyward sac fly and it’s 6-2 Braves.  Heyward adds a single in the 8th to notch his 4th RBI of the game and Medlen sets the Phils down in the 9th to earn the complete game 7-2 win and the Braves capture their 7th regional title, with this team being the most contemporary one to do so.  Jason Heyward gets regional MVP honors, swatting a homer in the first inning of all three games and ending the bracket with three homers and seven RBI.

Interesting card of Regional #190:  In previous installments, I’ve featured a couple of cards that represented amazing swan songs–Ted Williams, Sandy Koufax, and some less-than-willing final cards such as Barry Bonds or Shoeless Joe.  But here is another one that perhaps ranks up there with them.  In September 2008, Wagner underwent Tommy John surgery and only pitched 16 innings in 2009, and it looked like his career might be over.  Still, the Braves approached him for the 2010 season and, having been a Braves fan as a kid, he signed but informed them that he would be retiring after the season regardless of the outcome.  And the Braves had to be quite happy with their one season–making a total of 71 appearances, Wagner would post the lowest ERA (lowest of his career) with 37 saves, as well as making his seventh, and final, All-Star appearance.  His final outing was Williams-esque, as he struck out the last four batters he faced to wrap up a 16-year career that included 422 saves (sixth all-time, second-highest among LHP).  Named on 68.1% of ballots in the 2023 Hall of Fame voting in his 8th try, it will be interesting to see if he can clear the hurdle in the next few years.